Til Debt Do Us Part (Married At Midnight #4)

Chapter 13

Thirteen

Dare

A week later, I stand with my hands clasped behind my back and look out into the graying mid-afternoon sky. It is cold and rainy here, with the sky indicating that it will soon grow dark. I stand under the small amount of protection that is offered at the Morgan mansion.

Staring down the long driveway, I check my watch, thinking that Talia is going to be late. Then I see a car pulling up the long driveway. It’s a Lincoln Town Car, one from a service that I hired, not a Rolls-Royce or a Ford Escalade from my grandfather’s fleet of cars. I didn’t want anybody to ask questions about Talia, so I decided to use an outside chauffeur service.

At last, the car pulls into the turnabout and stops. I step forward, making sure that Talia is actually the passenger. But she soon emerges, dressed in her usual dowdy corduroy skirt and the same heavy wool coat with worn patches in the sleeves. Her hair is at least brushed this time, and if I am not mistaken, she wears a little rouge on her cheeks.

She does not look half bad. I rake my gaze over her as I take her arm.

She looks at me, her expression catty. "Dare," she says by way of greeting.

My lips twitch. "Talia. You are very nearly late."

"Yet I am not. Let’s go. Let’s get this over with. I never want anything to do with the Morgan family ever again."

Gripping her by the arm, I turn and head inside. As I step through the threshold, I lean down and whisper a warning into her ear.

“I have you for the entire day. You are bought and sold. And I will choose the right moment to tell my twin’s fiancée that he is a dirty cheater. Before that, you should just keep your fucking mouth shut. Smile pretty and act like you fucking belong here."

She shoots me a murderous look, and her mouth thins into a tight white line. I give her a cool smile and continue to usher her through the foyer.

When we reach the long hallway, I pull her to the left, opening a door to the oversized coat closet. She looks at me, poking her tongue out against her cheek, and heads into the little room. I flip the lights on, and she waits until I close the door before cocking her head and motioning at the room. "What’s going on?"

"Relax. There’s no need to be so uptight. I brought some clothes for you to change into."

Talia’s eyebrows fly up. "What?"

Heading over to the wall lined with coats, I fish out a garment bag and present it to her. She looks at me skeptically and takes the bag, pulling the zipper down to reveal a sleek silver dress.

Her mouth turns down at the corners, and her eyes tighten on me. "You didn’t say that I would be required to wear a costume."

"It is not a costume. It’s a very expensive Valentino dress. I expect you to put it on and not ask any more questions about it. After all, I could just decide that fifteen thousand dollars is not worth it to me."

Her mouth balls up tight, and she huffs. "Where am I supposed to change?"

I gesture around the room. "Why do you think that we are in a closet?"

"Absolutely not. I’m not changing in front of you."

"Oh, my God." I roll my eyes. "First of all, it’s not like I haven’t seen everything that you have to offer before. I have seen better, honestly. Second of all, if you are really that uptight, I’ll turn my back. Does that make it better?"

"Hardly."

Sucking in my breath. I turn around and peel my own overcoat off to reveal the carefully hand stitched Armani suit underneath.

"I don’t hear you changing," I say.

Talia gives a dramatic huff and starts rustling around. She doesn’t say anything, so I hang up my overcoat. I turn my head one fourth of the way back, and she makes a loud buzzing sound.

“Don’t!” she warns.

I face forward, rolling my eyes. "I was just going to ask if you want me to throw your old clothes away."

She makes an angry sound, and I hear clothes thudding on the floor. "Obviously not, Dare."

I grin a little to myself, unable to help it. It’s too easy to mess with Talia. She’s so buttoned up and extremely uptight that the opportunity just can’t be passed by.

She heaves another sigh and says, "All right, you can look."

I turn around and see her acting like she doesn’t know what to do with her body. She is draped in a long silver chain dress that hits the floor with a dramatic flair. At the moment, she is holding the halter top and looking rather distressed. She grimaces.

"Do you mind doing the back? I can’t get it on my own.”

I smirk and approach, my gaze drawn to her silky smooth, pale skin at her shoulders. Before now she dressed like a freaking nun, so seeing her bare skin is titillating in a certain way. I let my eyes rove over what little there is of her exposed skin as I circle her, drawing my hands over her shoulders.

I will admit, there is something sensual about her back and her shoulder blades. I suppose I would be the same with any woman, but it’s even more so with Talia, who resents having her shoulders bare.

It’s naughty when I get to look at her. And when I get to skim my hands up her neck?

She shivers, and it is unquestionably sexy. I hear her shuddered inhalation and smile as I take the fabric from her hands and knot it swiftly. As soon as I am done, I smooth my hands over her shoulders once more, but she moves away, turning on me with a spiteful look.

"That’s enough," she says. "I can’t believe you talked me into this in the first place."

I shrug and point to a shoebox. Talia bends down to open it and finds a pair of silver high-heeled sandals. She puts her feet in them and fastens them without another word, but she glares at me, making her feelings known.

As if I had any question about that.

Giving her a careful smile, I reach for a shopping bag and unveil a long blonde wig. It’s styled to perfection, and it features a champagne colored, multi-tiered look.

Talia gives me a flat look. "I think that’s overkill, don’t you? After all, Burn might not even recognize me."

"Well, that's what I’m counting on. But all that lovely copper hair of yours makes you pretty easy to spot."

"Is that a compliment? Do you find me memorable?" She asks.

I level a gaze at her. "Come on. Put the wig on. Weren’t you the one that was just saying how much you want to just get this over with?”

She takes the wig from me, looking at me as she puts it on. After fussing with it for thirty seconds, she puts her hands on her hips and looks at me, presenting herself for final inspection.

"What do you think?" She asks. "Do I pass the test?"

I give her a small smile and nod. "You’ll do. Let’s go."

We step out of the coat closet, leaving the mess of her clothes behind. As we head down the hallway once more, Talia catches her reflection in a mirror and freezes. Her eyes are wide; her gaze is glued on her figure in the dress.

"What?" I ask, losing patience with her.

"I just…" She shakes her head. "I barely recognize myself. This dress is so different from what I would normally wear."

"That’s the point, don’t you think?"

"I… I guess."

I put my arm around her waist, pulling her away from the mirror. She totters for a few moments, struggling to walk in the high heels I gave her. But after a moment, she finds her balance.

I cast a gaze down her figure, thinking to myself that if I weren’t so laser focused on rubbing my brother’s misdeeds in Daisy’s face, I might be able to take the time to admit that Talia isn’t horrible looking. In fact, she is rather the opposite of horrible-looking.

With her borrowed clothes and long blonde wig, I find her extremely attractive.

Her ass looks like you could bounce a quarter off it in this dress and the perky mounds of her tits almost knock the breath out of me. I can see exactly why Burn picked her.

She’s hot, under all that dumpy junk that she usually wears.

She feels me looking at her and eyes me sternly. "Don’t get any ideas, you overgrown bully."

Arching my brow, I feign surprise. "Me? Get ideas? I would never."

She rolls her eyes. "Are you worried about Remy recognizing me? It’s only been a few days since I was in front of him in his office."

I give a snort. "No way. He has definitely forgotten about you by now. He has always been forgetful, especially of younger women. No offense, but he doesn’t really see you as being a full person."

Talia elbows me in the side, scowling. I raise my hand, gesturing.

"Hey, it’s not my point of view. It’s my grandfather’s. He’s never had a good memory for people, and now he has to be reminded who the wives of his nieces and nephews are."

She stops, pulling at the side of her dress. "Okay. Let’s just hurry this along. This dress is really itchy, not to mention the fact that I’m afraid that one of my boobs will fall out somehow."

"I have you for the full day. So just suck it up. It’s the last day that you will ever have to see the Morgan family."

We head into the living room after I adjust our poses so that Talia holds onto my arm.

"One more thing," I whisper. She looks at me, arching a brow.

"I know that you aren’t very good at hiding your emotions. Keep a blank face while you’re at the Morgan estate. Trust me, you’ll thank me later for warning you."

I’m expecting a glare or an eye roll. But instead she looks at me passively, not reacting to what I said in any way.

A smile plays upon my lips, and I tilt my head toward the living room. "Come on. Let’s go into the lion’s den."

When we enter the living room, the rest of the players are already there. Uncle Felix is standing and telling an animated story to one of my cousins. My father, Tripp, is at the bar cart, his usual hangout, pouring a drink and looking around the room suspiciously. My brother Burn stands on the far side of the room, his grip on Daisy’s waist reminding me of a python and its prey. In the corner near the entrance to the servants' passage, Clive stands with his hands clasped behind his back and his head bowed as he whispers something to Magda.

Other cousins lounge here and there, but those are the main family members that I need to keep an eye on. I draw a long breath and try to steel myself.

Talia glances up at me, her fingers gripping my arm tighter. I make eye contact with her and give her a tiny head shake. I walk her over to the fireplace and try to decide which family member I should tackle first. I’m thinking of my uncle Felix, being that he is the friendliest of the bunch. By friendliest, I mean he stands to gain something by kissing my ass.

But before I can do that, Magda makes a beeline for me. I glance at Burn, seeing that he has noticed my presence. Daisy is looking at me, too, her brow lowered, a frown on her perfect lips. Actually, she’s looking at Talia, not me.

Do I dare hope that Daisy is displaying jealousy over my turning up here with a new toy on my arm?

"Dare!" Magda says. She stops just short of plowing into me, instead hugging me very briefly. Her smile is over the top, with dimples upon dimples. "It’s good that you came for your father’s birthday."

Talia scrunches her face up and looks at me critically. "It’s your father’s birthday?"

I nod, already weary of the subject. "Yeah. This little shindig is just a get-together to celebrate it."

Magda puts her hand out to Talia, skipping over the part of my introduction.

"I am Magda, the house chef. And you are?"

Talia steps out of my sheltering arm and shakes Magda’s hand with both of hers. She looks Magda right in the face, making it clear that she is engaged with what is going on.

"Magda. So nice to meet you. I am Talia. I am just here as Dare’s date for the evening."

I move forward and slide my arm around Talia again, pulling Talia’s body against my own. "Maybe she could be more. We’ll see."

Talia shoots me a glance but doesn’t say anything in response. Magda beams at us both, practically beside herself. She looks at Talia and then motions for her to move closer. Magda whispers something in her ear, making Talia blush. Then Magda looks at me, pats my cheek, and hurries out of the room.

I watch her go, bewildered. "What was that? What did she say?"

Talia gives a gentle shrug and shakes her head. "It was nothing."

"It did not look like nothing," I say.

Just then, Daisy breaks away from Burn and plunges across the room, her hand raised for a handshake. Her gaze is fixed on Talia, and I have a sinking feeling that I know exactly what is coming.

"Dare!" Daisy crows, a strange smile on her face. "You didn’t introduce me to your guest."

Daisy rushes up to Talia, grabbing her hand and squeezing her arm forcefully. The two women are thrown into contrast for a long second. Talia, in her blonde wig and her silver dress, is nervously peeking at me. In contrast, Daisy is tall and so thin she’s nearly emaciated, her long hair a dark mass on her shoulders. It occurs to me just at this moment that Talia is pale next to Daisy, who is sun-kissed and confident.

I step closer to Talia, a careful smile on my lips. "Daisy. Always a pleasure to see you. This is my date, Talia.”

I slip an arm around Talia and give her an encouraging hug. The embrace is performative, more for Daisy than it is for Talia. But Talia seems to lean into me in a way that I’ll admit that I like.

"How do you know Dare?" Talia asks Daisy.

Daisy flashes a smirk and raises her eyebrows at me. "I don’t know. How do we know each other, Dare? What do you want to tell little Talia about our relationship?"

Burn ambles over, taking up his place next to Daisy. Daisy grabs his hand and intertwines her own, her smile dry.

“Daisy and I used to date. Now she is with my brother Burn.” I gesture to Burn, and he tilts his head to the side. "They are engaged, actually."

I can tell by the slight rise in Talia’s brows that she is just now putting together all the information. She looks at me, clearly unable to say whatever she is thinking. I can see her throat working as she swallows.

Talia’s hand finds my forearm and grips it hard. I smile as I introduce her to Burn.

"This is Burn. If you hadn't guessed, we are identical twins."

Burn is looking at Talia with a hint of puzzlement on his face. He reaches his hand out to her, and she shakily takes it, her face somber as she greets him.

"Hello."

Burn takes a deep breath. "I see you have met my fiancée, Daisy. I’m telling you now, meeting the rest of the family is pointless. When I got here, Tripp was just telling a story about how he got out of a speeding ticket by telling the sheriff that he had Morgan money and he would get the sheriff fired. So that’s the kind of mojo that we are working with."

Talia arches an eyebrow, glancing at me. She smiles and bows her head ever so slightly. "Good to know," she says to Burn.

Daisy cuts in. "So how do you two know each other? Did you meet doing volunteer work or at a flea market or something?"

"No. We just met through friends," I reply smoothly.

Burn joins in on his fiancée's gentle ribbing and smirks. "Are you sure that you didn’t find her at a homeless shelter or something, Dare?"

I see Talia’s face fall. She looks at Burn with a profound disgust in her eyes. "Are you suggesting that I am homeless?"

Burn seems a little caught out. He holds up a hand, as if that can excuse him somehow. "I was just joking, Talia. Just teasing my brother."

"Well, it isn’t funny. It is not nice to make fun of people that you don’t know just to get a rise out of each other."

She turns her gaze to me, her mouth forming a hard line. I pull her closer, unsure where this passion of hers came from. I have to admit, it’s not unwarranted in this situation, and I even like it. That is, when Talia is schooling my brother instead of me.

Daisy gives a huge fake smile and tries to ease the tension between us. "Burn didn’t mean anything by it, honestly. He would never intentionally make anyone uncomfortable, Talia." She looks at Burn, and he looks at her. After a second, they move together and lock lips, kissing hard and making little noises of pleasure.

I roll my eyes. I glance at Talia, and I jerk my head toward my uncle. But before I can say anything, Burn and Daisy separate and lovingly smile at each other.

That sick feeling in the pit of my stomach has now returned.

It’s time for me to hint at her purpose in being here. I can see that now. I shift my weight, moving my arm from around her waist to around her shoulders, and pull her a little closer.

"You know, Burn..." My lips twitch. Though I feel ill inside, outside I am cool, collected, calm, and confident. "Did you know that Talia and I have a very deep connection as well? We’ve been talking about everything. And I do mean everything."

Burn stares at me, his eyes narrowing on my face. Talia looks between Daisy, Burn, and me, possibly trying to figure out what exactly our deal is.

I slip my fingers around the curve of Talia’s hip, smiling as I make heavy eye contact with Burn. "We’ve been talking about everything under the sun. Telling stories, reliving moments from our lives."

I cock my brow at him, and his gaze hardens. I am willing to bet that Burn is now racking his brain to figure out why it is that Talia looks so familiar. Or maybe not. His clear confusion is the very reason why I spent so much time and put so much effort into dressing her up. Without her dumpy outfit and with her copper hair covered under that wig, it is nearly impossible to recognize Talia.

Burn looks between me and Talia and then gives his head a shake. He leans his head over and kisses Daisy's cheek. "My love, why don’t we go and talk to my father? It’s his birthday, after all."

Daisy clearly does not think much of this idea. But she forces a smile onto her lips anyway and brings his hand up, kissing the back. "Of course, my love. I’ll follow you anywhere."

Burn stretches his arm out and takes Daisy by the shoulders. Daisy casts her gaze back at me with a smug little smile on her lips.

God, what a manipulative woman she is! How was I ever the object of her attentions? I have no doubt that I acted just like Burn does, but seeing it now from the outside, I shudder a little.

Whatever the case, I am planning on letting my twin brother sweat for an hour before I reveal Talia’s true identity. Then I will rub the fact that Burn is a cheater in her face. It is so close that I can almost taste it.

Talia wiggles out of my grip, coming around to block my view of Daisy. She puts her hands on her hips and tilts her head, pinning me in place with her cool blue stare. "Why didn’t you tell me about Daisy?"

A feeling of unease creeps up my spine like an icy hand. "I don’t know what you mean. What about her?"

Talia sucks in her breath. "You didn’t say anything about the fact that you are desperately in love with Daisy and trying to steal her back from your brother."

I grit my teeth, a little shaken that she might have somehow picked up on some lingering emotions between me and Daisy with such quickness. I must not be hiding my feelings well.

"That is not what’s happening. I assure you that it isn’t love I feel when I see Daisy. All I feel is resentment. I want to rub her nose in the fact that my brother is a cheater."

Talia crosses her arms, looking at me with a careful expression. "You shouldn’t tell her anything. Honestly. It will not matter to Daisy, not like you think it will. And then you will still be left holding the bag when it comes to things between you and Burn. You two are brothers, not enemies."

I laugh half-heartedly. "That’s where you’re wrong. Daisy left me for my brother because we look the same. She said that she was getting an upgrade. And Burn encouraged her. So I am going to rub her face that she chose an unfaithful man. I can’t wait to sit back and enjoy the look on her face when I tell her."

Her mouth opens in protest, but I put a finger to her lips, giving her a warning look. "Mind your own business. You’re only here as a bit-part actress. You should keep your opinions to yourself. You’re here because you have been paid to tell your story. Nothing more. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Her eyes flash furiously at me. Her mouth thins. But she does not say a word. She just continues to look at me as though I am disappointing her somehow.

As if I could ever be a disappointment to someone like her, someone who was born into poverty and is only here because of my money. I turn, straightening the cuffs of my shirt and looking around the room. She follows my gaze, seemingly unsure about everything.

"So, what now?"

I purse my lips and shrug. "I don’t know. We were waiting for a sighting of Remy, eventually. It should be sometime within the next hour or two. Until then…” I cast a glance around the room. “Everyone in here is trying to size up Burn and me. It’s a little tiring."

"Size you up for what?" Talia asked.

I flick my fingers out in a gesture that says it does not really matter. "Remy is insisting on a race between my brother and me to own the majority share of the business. Essentially, my grandfather says that the first one of us that is a married man with a grandchild to present to him will then gain control of the company and billions of dollars." I straighten my tie and roll my eyes. "It's unfair, but when was anything Remy decided to be fair?"

"That’s insane. He knows that’s insane, right?" She looks at me, her brow furrowed.

Giving her a sideways glance, I smirk. "You know, if I didn’t dislike your personality so much, you would have made a nice wife for me. Really drive the nail head home and stick it to Burn. In fact, when you were telling me the story of the night that you got drunk after Raven’s Head and thought I was my brother, I was thinking how funny it was. I almost went to the Raven’s Head Club that night with Burn. But we bickered, and I decided not to go. So we almost crossed paths, except that fate didn’t see fit.”

Talia glares at me. "The reason that it wouldn’t have taken place the way that you picture it is because your brother actually charmed me. I can’t imagine you seducing anyone into anything."

"Can’t you, though?" I give her a wicked grin.

She huffs a little. "I really hate you."

"And I hate you. But what is a little hatred among two attractive people? We can just fuck, enjoy each other’s bodies, and then part satiated. No muss, no fuss, no feelings."

Her lips part.

But at that very moment, Remy chooses to make his appearance. He strolls into the room, his gold-tipped cane in one hand, and Clive hovering nervously near him the whole time. Remy runs a hand over his bald head and flicks a dismissive hand at Clive. "All right, I’m all right. I’m in the living room now. Happy?"

"Remy!" Daisy calls out. "It’s so nice to see you."

Remy screws up his face and gestures to Clive, who whispers in Remy’s ear. Remy then looks at Daisy and says, "It’s Mr. Morgan to you. You’re not family yet."

Daisy gulps and clutches at Burn, who is quick to give her his hand. My father stumbles away from the bar cart, drunkenly jubilant.

He raises his tumbler of whiskey to Remy. "It’s good to see you, Dad. Here I was, waiting all night for you to show up. Story of my life, am I right?"

My dad laughs and looks around, perhaps expecting someone to chime in. But no one does. Everyone here is supported by Remy, in some fashion. It’s better not to bite the hand that feeds you, and every single person in this room knows it.

My Uncle Felix shoves his hand through his hair and moves forward, grabbing my father and holding him up. "Tripp, why don’t we get some fresh air?"

"Yes, Tripp. Why don’t you get some fresh air?”

Remy hobbles away from his two sons, out into the middle of the room. He beckons to Clive, and Clive hands him a glass of red wine, giving Remy a fearful look as he hands it over. Remy grips the stem and lifts the wine high in the air. As Felix helps my drunken father out of the room, Remy starts telling a story about my grandmother.

"She was wonderful. She will always be present. And she has visited me several times in my dreams. That’s how I came up with the challenge to pit my two grandsons together. The inheritance race was her idea."

At the door, my dad freezes. Felix tugs on his arm, but he turns around and blows a raspberry. "Your story sucks, Remy!"

Remy scowls at my father. "And what would you know about it, Tripp?"

"I know that it’s not real. I know the difference between reality and fantasy. That’s one thing that’s different between me and you."

"Fuck you," Remy hisses.

Tripp straightens and takes a wobbly step towards my grandfather. "You know, my wife died many years ago. She left the whole family in the lurch. But you don’t see me blubbering on about it, do you?"

Remy goes red, seething. "You drove your wife away with your drinking. You ruined your family. That is not my fault, Tripp. No matter how many times you accuse me of it, it really comes down to you and your flaws."

I feel my whole body lock up. I don’t want anybody knowing this much about my family, but especially Talia. In the usual course of things, we Morgans succeed in keeping things calm and normal as far as outsiders can see.

Most people don’t realize how broken and fucked up we are.

Talia looks at me, her eyes wide. But it's difficult for me to remain calm as I watch my father and grandfather go round and round at each other.

I wish I could say that this was the first time that I’ve seen such bad behavior between them.

My dad leans in, his face red. "It was the family that drove her away. Not me. You can say it was my drinking until the cows come home, but we all know the truth. Nobody ever wanted her here. And that’s what eventually came to be."

Remy’s lips curl. "You don’t deserve to have your birthday celebrated. You don’t even deserve to call yourself my son. That’s it, you are officially cut off. You’re not getting any inheritance, and I am not supporting you financially anymore either."

"I hate you!" my father says, as he lunges toward my grandfather.

His movements are hobbled by my Uncle Felix, who catches him and pushes him against the wall. Remy growls and makes moves toward my dad, but Clive neatly sidelines him by stepping in front of him and asking him a question.

"Everybody out!" Remy shouts. "I don’t want to see any of you anymore. Go back to your lairs and plot against me some more, why don’t you?"

I realize that Remy can’t leave the room until my Dad does. So I grab Talia by the arm and steer her over to Clive, touching his arm.

When he looks at me, I tell him in a low tone, "Can you see that Talia gets home? I have to go deal with my father."

Clive bows and agrees. I tell Talia that I will see her later; I am not in any position to worry myself over her concerned gaze.

Rushing towards the door, I help Felix grab my father by the elbow. Working together, we get Tripp out of the room and down the hall, the opposite direction Remy needs to go up the stairs.

"What should we do with him?" Felix mutters, hazarding me a glance.

"I don’t know. Throw him in the gutter maybe?" I joke.

Tripp raises his head and swivels his gaze toward me. "You know," he says quite drunkenly. He is tripping over his words, all the consonants and vowels sloshing together. "Your mother would not have liked who you grew up to be. She would’ve been ashamed of you. You’re a terrible disappointment."

I give a startled laugh and tell him to shut up. Felix looks at me sympathetically, and we each take one of my dad's elbows and hold him up, maneuvering toward the front door. I feel blooms of anger and a deep, dark sadness. But I stuff it down, just like I always do when the Morgan family is involved.